Sacrifice was an important ritual within the Minoan religion. Images found on frescoes and seals often depict the bull as the most powerful and impressive of animals. This is a plaster cast of a spectacular Minoan rhyton in the shape of a bull’s head. The original would have been used for pouring sacrificial offerings (libations) during a religious ceremony.
The original rhyton is made of serpentine with a snout of mother of pearl, eyes of rock crystal and jasper, and horns originally of gilded wood. It was found in a pillar crypt (a room with a central pillar) within the Little Palace of Knossos, and is dated to 1500–1400 BCE.
The rhyton may have held the blood of a sacrificial animal, and its use can be seen as a metaphor for the ritual re-enactment of the bloodletting that began the sacrifice.
